National Ballet of Korea Online Screening of 'The Nutcracker' and 'La Bayadere'

[Asia Economy Reporter Byunghee Park] The National Ballet Company will stream online videos of the performances "The Nutcracker (Choreography: Yuri Grigorovich)" and "La Bayad?re (Choreography: Yuri Grigorovich)" through its official YouTube channel in May.

When the COVID-19 pandemic made it impossible to hold performances, the National Ballet Company recently launched an online video streaming service called "KNB RE:PLAY" on its official YouTube channel, showcasing major repertoire works. On April 18-19, they streamed "Heo Nanseolheon - Suwol Gyeonghwa (Choreography: Kang Hyohyung)," and on April 24-26, "Anna Karenina (Choreography: Christian Spuck)." These two works attracted great attention, accumulating over 47,300 views across five screenings. The National Ballet Company's official YouTube channel also gained about 24,000 new subscribers.

In May, the National Ballet Company plans to stream "The Nutcracker" (on the 3rd and 5th) and "La Bayad?re" (on the 16th and 17th) twice each through KNB RE:PLAY.

"The Nutcracker" was selected as a ballet piece that the whole family can enjoy together in celebration of Family Month in May.

The National Ballet Company's version of "The Nutcracker" is choreographed by Russian choreographer Yuri Grigorovich. Since its premiere in the early 2000s, it has sold out every performance for 20 years. Set to the melodies of Pyotr Tchaikovsky, it offers spectacular visuals and is considered a representative year-end ballet piece fitting for the Christmas season. This work is prepared to gift children the fantasy of traveling to a fairy tale land in celebration of Family Month and Children's Day in May.

"La Bayad?re" is regarded as a blockbuster in the ballet world and is a grand production. Over 120 dancers take the stage, and more than 200 costumes are used. The exotic and mysterious setting combined with dramatic content and classical choreography creates a dazzling spectacle. The National Ballet Company has not staged this work since 2016, so this will be an opportunity to soothe the long-standing longing of audiences. The streamed video in May is a recording of the 2014 performance, featuring principal dancers who have since left the company. Ji-young Kim, currently a professor in the Department of Dance at Kyung Hee University, performs as Nikiya, and Dong-hoon Lee, now active with Diablo Ballet in the United States, performs as Solor.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.